Birthday dining

[*Deborah*]

If I was with my family, we would normally go out somewhere, and I could pick. If I was spending the summer with grandparents, then we'd just have whatever at home, typically, and a birthday cake.

Now I'm in Vancouver, and my parents are not; normally they will come to town for my birthday and take me somewhere fabulous. Last year, my dad was travelling for work and thus I got TWO birthday dinners--one with my mum, early, and one with my dad, late. Like Suzilightning, duck is almost certainly on my birthday menu, and foie gras if possible.

[Marlene]

For my birthday we usually go out somewhere. Don knows my favourite restaurants and he usually just picks one and makes reservations. This year, for my 45th birthday, we will be cruising.

Don and Ryan happen to share a birthday and for several years when Ryan was younger, Don always got gyped and had to spend his birthday watching several young children go bowling or some other horrid form of birthday entertainment. Now that Ry is older, he usually gets a sleepover and I commit to making him whatever he wants to eat, inlcuding a homemade cake.

Don will be 50 this year, and I think it's time for birthday dinner all his own. I don't think he wants a bowling party.

[suzilightning]

[Don will be 50 this year, and I think it's time for birthday dinner all his own. I don't think he wants a bowling party.

←

[suzilightning]

hard to believe it has been so long since this thread was started and written on. i have started my two weeks before reflections - i make birthday resolutions not new years ones so i reflect on the prior year and what i did well, not so well and what i want to add or change the next year. so many things have gone on in our lives over the years...dealing with a hepatitis c diagnosis, increasing alcoholism and job loss, recovery and moving on, getting ready for retirement and relocation, changing the way i eat and losing 65 pounds and keeping it off. food and the folks who share a love of it are still so important to me, especially as my beloved johnnybird struggles with more health issues. helping my mother-in-law deal with a better diet after surgery has also increased my awareness of good nutrition. helping a neighbor who has become like my younger sister deal with the problems of eating during cancer treatment has also helped my awareness.

thinking about what i want to eat in celebration is so very different now. just starting to ponder it and i want to share it with friends now. i don't think i want to go out...though a thai or indian restaurant might be fun. a bunch of small plates might be the way to go... no more alcohol, though so maybe a treat from a friend's place like a key lime cupcake or even better a cheese plate for me.

[suzilightning]

well i asked my husband to take me here last night for my birthday. i wish i had followed my own rule and gone by myself for lunch - it would have saved me a lot of unhappy feelings and a fight with my very buzzed husband.

first the good - the place looks fabulous. we were greeted and seated promptly. our cocktail order was taken. he had a margarita with a better tequila, i had an elderflower cocktail that was very, very nice. john ordered the codfish cake and the hand cut fettuccine with fire roasted tomatoes, olive, fresh herbs, etc. he said they were both very, very good. they provided the table with a bottle each of still and sparkling water.

now the not so good - i ordered 2 small plates of things i love to eat - beef and potato empanadas and onion rings. when they came out i ate one of the empanadas. the filling was really good. one of the best i have eaten and i have eaten these all over morris county. the crust not so much - by the time i finished the first one the crust was getting soggy. i tried to eat an onion ring. they were pipping hot - just as they should be but as i picked it up my hands felt greasy. i tried another and the same thing. as they sat there you could see the grease soaking the paper that lined the basket. this was very frustating since i was seeing that other diners were getting things like french fries that didn't look greasy.

i didn't say anything to our server since she never came by to ask how things were. she didn't show up until my husband had finished all of his meal and then she just asked if we wanted anything wrapped - and i was sitting there with basically an untouched basket of onion rings and two of three empanadas. when we said no she removed the food and, 10 minutes later, we asked a passing bus person to have her bring us the check. i was also under orders from my husband to say nothing because he wanted to take the tomatoes he couldn't finish home and he didn't want the kitchen staff to spit in them. and i shouldn't take it out on the server. and i should be glad there was even food on my plate. and maybe i'm too flipping picky about my food. and maybe the fat americans love their onion rings with grease dripping down to their elbows. did i mention that he had a glass of wine with his dinner?

over all i think from seeing what other diners had i think i made bad food choices. would i give it another try? maybe but ALONE!!

should i just have picked up a ribeye? yes

[Shelby]

Sheesh, what ever happened to making the birthday girl feel happy and special?!

It's no fun to have a spat with your hubby...AND have poor wait service.

I say, scrap that dinner and have a do-over. Pick a day next week and pretend like the first birthday dinner never happened.

[kayb]

Suzi, so sorry your birthday dinner was a bust, but I am so happy that your birthday resolutions over the years have turned out positively!

For my birthday, I generally cook something I've never made or had, and have been wanting to try. If it's not good, I go out! At work, we have a tradition of picking what kind of cake or pie we want -- as my birthday is at the height of strawberry season, I always pick a strawberry pie or fresh strawberry cake.

My kids always get what they want on their birthday, and it's generally the same thing each year. The eldest gets Italian roast chicken and zucchini fritters. The middle child gets red beans and rice. The youngest -- the low maintenance one -- gets chicken pot pie. My new adopted teenaged son gets flank steak or burgers.

[suzilightning]

BUMP

 

since we have some new folk I want to know what ....  if anything ...  you want for your birthday.  Cake ... food ... a restaurant meal.

 

I have been working on my birthday resolutions for this year and the one thing that I have come up with is a phrase ...."BE BRAVE".  I have always been a timid person.  I love order and constancy.  I hate disorder and sloppiness,  I tend to say yes when I want to say no way,

 

Next week ....30 August ... I will be 62.  I have outlived my uncle and grandmother.... IF I live to 63 I will have passed my mom.....

 

I plan to celebrate and honor those who have gone before and try this next year to do some things I haven't yet .   

 

the other day Johnnybird asked if I wanted to go see BRUCE.   Uhhh  NO.  Darius Rucker ... YES PLEASE................ BUDDY GUY...OH HELL YES..........  so he is going to see Springsteen on my birthday

 

I have a coupon for 10.00 off a dinner entrée, a coupon for a free burger at a local chain that is pretty good.but I am craving a steak.... so I want to go out for lunch and have steak frites

 

...the other thing I love, like Carla Hall. is a pucker.  A friend did a lemon pound cake with vanilla yoghurt but, when I suggested using lemon yoghurt, she went me one better with lemon and lime greek yoghurt and lime juice and zest as well as the lemon juice and zest.  HEAVEN.  Thank you, Karen.

 

[BeeZee]

I hate disorder and sloppiness in my kitchen...so I'll never ask DH to cook me anything. And after a fiasco one year of a cookies and cream cake that tasted mostly of Crisco (he liked the look of it) I've gotten VERY specific on my requests. I prefer a fruit-based dessert (tart, pie, cake). When I was a kid my parents used to buy a strawberry shortcake type cake for me. We go out for dinner...I have a couple of favorites not far from home...since my birthday is in the end of February, I don't like to assume I'll not have to deal with nasty road conditions.

[ElainaA]

My husband is an excellent cook, however our taste preferences are quite different. So if he were to design a special dinner for my birthday it might well be a perfectly prepared dish - that I would never have chosen for myself . The solution was really simple - establish a tradition of lobster and champagne. Not much can go wrong there. And, in my opinion, when you have lobster you only pretend to eat other parts of the meal.  (Somewhat off topic  - The same thing frequently happens with fresh, local sweet corn. A problem in come of the lobster shacks I ate in when I lived in Maine that served both excellent local corn and wonderful lobster together.)

I have never been a big fan of birthday cakes. As a child, my daughter always wanted the works - a layer cake, frosted, with frosting roses and "Happy Birthday Micaela" and I produced one, every year. Actually she wanted one for each birthday - not only hers but also my husband's and mine. That tailed off around age 12 or so when she fell in love with pumpkin pie and that became the birthday ritual. I like that much better. (We did put candles in the pie.)

Edited August 29, 2016 by ElainaA (log)

[heidih]

I had the perfect birthday meal last year - I am almost afraid to try it again for fear of it not measuring up. I did the free on your birthday boat ride from Los Angeles Harbor to Catalina Island and had perfect fried calamari with a roasted red pepper mayo dip and grilled artichoke halves with grilled lemons to squeeze and a pesto mayo. The accompanying bread was excellent. View of the harbor and casino. Perfection!!!  (cant find casino image but this is other direction towards cruise ship and pier

Edited August 29, 2016 by heidih (log)

[MetsFan5]

On August 28, 2016 at 0:54 PM, suzilightning said:

BUMP

 

since we have some new folk I want to know what ....  if anything ...  you want for your birthday.  Cake ... food ... a restaurant meal.

 

I have been working on my birthday resolutions for this year and the one thing that I have come up with is a phrase ...."BE BRAVE".  I have always been a timid person.  I love order and constancy.  I hate disorder and sloppiness,  I tend to say yes when I want to say no way,

 

Next week ....30 August ... I will be 62.  I have outlived my uncle and grandmother.... IF I live to 63 I will have passed my mom.....

 

I plan to celebrate and honor those who have gone before and try this next year to do some things I haven't yet .   

 

the other day Johnnybird asked if I wanted to go see BRUCE.   Uhhh  NO.  Darius Rucker ... YES PLEASE................ BUDDY GUY...OH HELL YES..........  so he is going to see Springsteen on my birthday

 

I have a coupon for 10.00 off a dinner entrée, a coupon for a free burger at a local chain that is pretty good.but I am craving a steak.... so I want to go out for lunch and have steak frites

 

...the other thing I love, like Carla Hall. is a pucker.  A friend did a lemon pound cake with vanilla yoghurt but, when I suggested using lemon yoghurt, she went me one better with lemon and lime greek yoghurt and lime juice and zest as well as the lemon juice and zest.  HEAVEN.  Thank you, Karen.

 

 

 

  First of all- I'm sorry but my husband would be my ex husband if he decided to see BS on my birthday-- he's always playing with his band and in our home state. Unless you don't want to go and your husband stops at Cartier prior to the concert that's a big fat no. Also if your husband is your age I don't get it. My parents are in that generation and they'd rather play 18 holes of golf times three than go see Bruce. I personally cannot stand the noise everyone raves about. 

 

  I would recommend seeking out a better steak. Maybe at Rod's as they offer most of their steaks on the lunch menu and will be fine with special requests. I used to work there, my husband proposed there and we got married there. They dry age the steaks in their basement. 

 

Please don't get a diner steak! 

 

  That said, I have always been a bit of a brat on my birthday. Shocking I'm sure . My birthday is St. Patrick's day. I guess my slight toward the holiday (despite being 50% third generation Irish in Morristown)  started when my mom (Italian and British) refused to name me Meghan. It was on from there but I lost all those battles as a child, begging for (somewhat junky) Chinese delivery. I used to secretly sip soy sauce until my mom caught me. Then it was only given to me when I went on a hunger strike. 

 

  Obviously I was a spirited child to say the least. Fortunately I grew up to enjoy foods I previously snubbed and spent my 21st birthday on a 36 hour bender in London. 

 

  That said I cannot STAND having to eat what I consider "bad fart food" on my birthday. I don't want boiled cabbage and meat. I want the opposite of that. Green beer makes me annoyed and gives me a headache from rolling my eyes at all the non Irish heritage people chugging it down. 

  So I like sushi delivery for my bday or to be at the Mets Spring Training and eating wings then going to Jensen Beach for a fantastic dinner at 11 Maple Street

bet you're glad you asked! 

 

  Although growing up my mom always got me a a Fugie the whale ice cream cake in mint chocolate chip. She also gave up smoking on my 5th birthday which is pretty much the best gift ever. 

[MetsFan5]

Also be brave and tell your husband helllll no it's your birthday! No concert for him! 

[liuzhou]

When my kids were growing up, a tradition was established - I can't remember how - that whoever was the birthday girl or boy (child or adult) got to choose dinner.

When they were younger, the kids came up with some bizarre choices, but they were honoured. I remember my daughter insisting that dinner was to be raw, grated carrot. That's all. That's what we ate (although I think perhaps the adults topped up after she went to bed.)

One year, I chose what would come to be called fine dining in one of London's top restaurants at the time, sadly no more. The kids were impressed and behaved immaculately. But the best thing was seeing, at a another table, a couple of people they had seen on television. Stars!

Later, their choices blossomed into Italian and Chinese restaurants (we were never fast food eaters, but if they had chosen that we would have had it). Then onto seafood restaurants. French, Spanish. Indian, of course. We were in the UK.

It was interesting to see their tastes develop. Now they both have their own families and have maintained the "tradition". One of my granddaughters, who is now working in Australia, recently told my my daughter, her mother, that she wants to come back for her birthday just to have a Thai meal in one particular restaurant. She would have to pass Thailand!

My grandson, my son's youngest, requested bananas and cornflakes for his birthday dinner this year. Guess what they ate!

Edited August 30, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Shelby]

Happy (a bit belated) birthday, Suzi!!!!  What did you end up doing?

[kayb]

Let me add my belated happy birthday wishes.

 

As my birthday is in late June, I'm perfectly happy with fresh garden veggies. Well, unless there's lobster. Or Cajun shrimp. Or sushi at the Tsukiji market in Tokyo. Or perfectly done barbecued ribs. 

 

Or any of a hundred other things. It's whatever I'm in the mood for that day, that  year.

 

Fresh coconut cake is always good, though.

[NWKate]

I always had to share my birthday with a neighbor at our lake cabin and generally hated it.  Now, I get to choose and it generally involves seafood and a double chocolate cake with fresh raspberries and a whipped cream frosting.

Why oh why did it take me so long to wise up?

My son was home this year for his birthday and requested salmon and rice pilaf- so glad we're able to get wild caught here- he said it was the best he'd ever had!  I'm one proud mama!

[sartoric]

It's my birthday next week. I usually have lunch with a girlfriend, and decided to ask the old man if he wanted to join us.

Girlfriend and I had wanted to go "The Fish House" a highly regarded and upscale seafood restaurant. Well, after I endured the "how can they justify those prices" rant, a compromise was struck. 

Takeaway fish and chips on the beach it will be. Hope the weather's nice.

 

[NWKate]

1 hour ago, sartoric said:

It's my birthday next week. I usually have lunch with a girlfriend, and decided to ask the old man if he wanted to join us.

Girlfriend and I had wanted to go "The Fish House" a highly regarded and upscale seafood restaurant. Well, after I endured the "how can they justify those prices" rant, a compromise was struck. 

Takeaway fish and chips on the beach it will be. Hope the weather's nice.

 

 

...and then I hope that you and your girlfriend hit "The Fish Houuse" for dinner!

[suzilightning]

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 6:20 AM, MetsFan5 said:

On ‎9‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 7:26 AM, Shelby said:

Happy (a bit belated) birthday, Suzi!!!!  What did you end up doing?

Also be brave and tell your husband helllll no it's your birthday! No concert for him! 

John took me out for lunch yesterday to a local place I requested.  It's called 4 Seasons Mediterranean in a little town nearby, Wharton.  There was a range of food inspired by Spain, France and Italy on the menu.  Paellas, pastas, etc..... I chose French onion soup(light on the cheese, please) and a tomato burrata salad and John had an entrée of scallops wrapped with salmon served with green beans and roasted potatoes in a wine sauce.  The food was very, very good and I see us going back for lunch again.  It was a slightly overcast day but we sat outside on the patio and enjoyed watching the world go by.

[suzilightning]

13 hours ago, sartoric said:

It's my birthday next week. I usually have lunch with a girlfriend, and decided to ask the old man if he wanted to join us.

Girlfriend and I had wanted to go "The Fish House" a highly regarded and upscale seafood restaurant. Well, after I endured the "how can they justify those prices" rant, a compromise was struck. 

Takeaway fish and chips on the beach it will be. Hope the weather's nice.

 

Don't know about you but why is it if it's something I want it's extravagant BUT if it's something HE wants it's necessary.

I say enjoy the food, the beach, the company and, if you can, an extravagant bottle of something to imbibe!!

[MetsFan5]

On September 4, 2011 at 8:30 AM, suzilightning said:

well i asked my husband to take me here last night for my birthday. i wish i had followed my own rule and gone by myself for lunch - it would have saved me a lot of unhappy feelings and a fight with my very buzzed husband.

first the good - the place looks fabulous. we were greeted and seated promptly. our cocktail order was taken. he had a margarita with a better tequila, i had an elderflower cocktail that was very, very nice. john ordered the codfish cake and the hand cut fettuccine with fire roasted tomatoes, olive, fresh herbs, etc. he said they were both very, very good. they provided the table with a bottle each of still and sparkling water.

now the not so good - i ordered 2 small plates of things i love to eat - beef and potato empanadas and onion rings. when they came out i ate one of the empanadas. the filling was really good. one of the best i have eaten and i have eaten these all over morris county. the crust not so much - by the time i finished the first one the crust was getting soggy. i tried to eat an onion ring. they were pipping hot - just as they should be but as i picked it up my hands felt greasy. i tried another and the same thing. as they sat there you could see the grease soaking the paper that lined the basket. this was very frustating since i was seeing that other diners were getting things like french fries that didn't look greasy.

i didn't say anything to our server since she never came by to ask how things were. she didn't show up until my husband had finished all of his meal and then she just asked if we wanted anything wrapped - and i was sitting there with basically an untouched basket of onion rings and two of three empanadas. when we said no she removed the food and, 10 minutes later, we asked a passing bus person to have her bring us the check. i was also under orders from my husband to say nothing because he wanted to take the tomatoes he couldn't finish home and he didn't want the kitchen staff to spit in them. and i shouldn't take it out on the server. and i should be glad there was even food on my plate. and maybe i'm too flipping picky about my food. and maybe the fat americans love their onion rings with grease dripping down to their elbows. did i mention that he had a glass of wine with his dinner?

over all i think from seeing what other diners had i think i made bad food choices. would i give it another try? maybe but ALONE!!

should i just have picked up a ribeye? yes

 

 

Where was this? Also? Servers rarely spit in the food. Like extremely rarely. I hate when diners expect the worst of waiters like they are sub humans who get off on contaminating food for fun. 

 

 Have you tried Raul's in Morristown? Awesome empanadas. 

[sartoric]

Here's lunch, barramundi fillets, calamari and chips. Washed down with a Pinot Gris and a bit of bonhomie.

 

[Okanagancook]

Sar, you're killin me!  Looks awesome especially 'cause I am dieting.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎9‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 6:37 PM, sartoric said:

It's my birthday next week. I usually have lunch with a girlfriend, and decided to ask the old man if he wanted to join us.

Girlfriend and I had wanted to go "The Fish House" a highly regarded and upscale seafood restaurant. Well, after I endured the "how can they justify those prices" rant, a compromise was struck. 

Takeaway fish and chips on the beach it will be. Hope the weather's nice.

 

 

My birthday is next week, but I don't celebrate birthdays.